Tides
by Prince Arjuna
Summary: She was a Replica, a mere puppet destined to be forgotten upon her demise, but through the whim of a higher being, she was granted a second chance to live a life that she never had. How will she live this second life granted to her? No one can really tell. CHAPTER 02: A REPLICA WHO BECOMES A DEVIL
1. A Girl With A Giant Key In Hand

She was falling.

All around her was darkness. All she could see were shadows and all she could hear was silence. She could already feel that she no longer possessed her physical form, and soon, she would shed her sense of self, becoming a truly nonexistent being. It's not like she's supposed to exist in the first place, after all.

And she was fine with it. She herself had facilitated her own demise by the hands of her best friend, the first and the only act that she had done out of her own free will. In her life, she had been nothing but a puppet to the group – the Organization – that she served. After acting like a puppet for her whole short life, doing something out of her own free will was quite liberating.

She was well-aware of the fact that she was nothing but a puppet. She was never a Nobody, but a mere Replica dressed in the black hooded coat of the Organization for the sake of achieving its goal: completing the Kingdom Hearts. All she was, all she had been, was nothing but a bunch of memories being pieced together and stuffed into a synthetic body. Her sole purpose was to create a perfect puppet capable of wielding a weapon that could liberate hearts from the darkness, the Keyblade, so that the Kingdom Hearts could be completed.

As she fell, she began to wonder where she would end up once her sense of self was completely discarded. Would she end up in Kingdom Hearts itself? No, that would be ridiculous. A forgotten thing would go to someplace forgotten things went when they were wiped out of Memory. Even the Nobodies would return to nothingness from whence they came upon their demise, but for someone who wasn't even a true Nobody in the first place, she knew that she didn't even belong to nothingness.

She was meant to be forgotten. No trace of her existence would remain in the world. No one would ever remember her, not even Roxas.

As she remembered a certain blonde Nobody, she couldn't help but feel a smile curling up on her already-nonexistent lips. Despite being the one who took her life, she was grateful of him for everything. As she descended down to the endless void, she couldn't help but wonder what would happen to him after this. Would he eventually return to his original self to make him whole again? Would he go for a revenge-fueled assault on the Organization for everything that they had done to him? She honestly had no idea.

But still, she was comforted by one truth: with her demise, the Organization's plan, and by extension, Xemnas' plan, would be disrupted. She had no idea whether it would give a big impact on their plan or not, but at least she had done something instead of being a puppet of the Organization. She knew that her action would eventually become meaningless, but by doing so, she had triggered a change. The rest would be left in either Roxas' or Sora's hands.

She didn't know how long it would take before she lost her sense of self. In fact, she had no idea how long it had been since she died in Roxas' hands. Already losing her body, she was no longer aware of the flow of time, and soon, she would stop thinking as her consciousness faded, but she had no idea when it would happen. All she could do now was to wait for it. She was a little afraid of losing what was left of her, but she had come to terms with it.

The forgotten puppet, the Organization member Number XIV, the spare key, let her mind wander as she recalled the memories precious to her. The memories of her, sitting together on top of the Clock Tower of Twilight Town with her friends, Roxas and Axel, were still fresh in her mind. But soon, those memories would be lost into oblivion. That was the fate of the forgotten puppet, the defective Replica such as her.

Even so, she still clung to those memories as she continued falling. Those memories gave her warmth that gave her courage to face her fate head on, even if the fate that she was about to face was that of nonexistence.

But then, as she continued falling, she felt another sensation. It shouldn't be possible, considering that many things about her had been shed away. Her physical body had long been discarded, and her mind would follow suit. It shouldn't be possible for her to see something in such a state.

In the darkness, there was a person looking at her general direction. Xion was unable to see the person clearly, but she knew she was seeing someone. She tried to say something, but was unable to do so due to the aforementioned lack of a body.

The person that she saw came closer to her, and Xion could see that this person was a young girl. This young girl then brought up her hand, holding it out before pointing her index at her general direction before saying something that Xion had no way to hear. And at that moment, the darkness was abruptly replaced by blinding light before her consciousness slipped away.

Her last thoughts before losing her consciousness was that of a certain blonde Nobody, wielding a giant skeleton key in his hand.

* * *

 **Tides**

 **High School DxD and Kingdom Hearts Crossover**

 **Chapter 01: A Girl with a Giant Key in Hand**

"Uuh…" She clutched her head and groaned the moment she regained her consciousness. She slowly opened her eyes and immediately closed them again so that she wouldn't be blinded by sunlight. After sitting up, she groaned some more and brought her hand to the bridge of her nose to alleviate her headache. "Wh-what's happening to me?"

The moment she spoke, she stopped nursing her pained head as she realized that she just talked. Then she realized that she had a body.

"What?" She looked down on herself. She was still garbed in her black Organization hooded coat and her hands were still covered in black gloves. She blinked in confusion as she clenched and unclenched her fists, trying to determine whether she was dreaming or not. She seemed to have regained her other senses, and they almost overwhelmed the poor Replica as she tried to get used to these sensations that she had lost after being killed by Roxas.

She brought her gloved hand to her chest and felt faint heartbeats.

"I… I'm alive?" She muttered to herself. "How is this possible?" She should have been assimilated back into Sora after being killed by Roxas at this moment, but here she was, alive and confused.

As she tried to make sense of what was happening to her, she looked at her surroundings. The first thing she learned upon being inducted into the Organization was to carefully study her surroundings. While she didn't want to be associated with the Organization any longer, it was one thing that she should do whenever she ended up in a new, unfamiliar world.

After calming herself down, she decided to observe her surroundings. That was the only thing she could do at the moment. Figuring out how she ended up alive could wait at later time.

She walked past some kind of vehicle before she stopped. She took a few steps back and looked at her own reflection on the windshield of the vehicle.

"This is… Kairi's face," she said as she looked into her reflection. Being made of Sora's memories of his childhood friend, she had the face of that girl who was someone very precious to him. But unlike Kairi, whose hair was red, her hair was black. After looking at her own reflection for quite some time, she sighed. "Hah… even this face doesn't belong to me…" She said glumly before she pulled up her hood to conceal the upper part of her face. Then, she walked away so that she could continue studying the area.

* * *

Doing reconnaissance was harder than she thought, considering that most of her missions back then when she was still a member of the Organization involved killing the Heartless in order to gather hearts to complete the Kingdom Hearts. She was almost arrested by a patrolling policeman due to her suspicious getup. Luckily she managed to elude him by quickly fleeing and hiding.

"Hah… t-that was close…" She panted as she pulled down her hood. Perhaps covering her head was a bad idea, after all.

After walking around for a while, she felt hungry. She found out that she had some munny left in her pocket. She was currently at the park where she could see several food stands. She went to an ice cream stand in order to purchase some frozen treats.

Luckily, the stand sold sea salt ice cream and accepted munny as payment. She had no idea why the shop owner accepted munny as payment, considering that this world seemed to use a different currency altogether, but she had no time to contemplate about it as she bought two sea salt ice creams. After purchasing the frozen treats, she went to a nearby bench and started eating one of the ice creams. As expected, it tasted sour yet sweet, just like how she remembered it.

As she ate the ice cream alone, she remembered her time with her friends back at the Clock Tower. Together with both Roxas and Axel, the three of them sat at the top of the Clock Tower, eating sea salt ice cream together. Just thinking about it made her heart ache.

Speaking of hearts, she was unsure whether a Replica like her had a heart or not. She didn't have any means to see whether she possessed a heart or not, and it's not like she could just take a look inside of her to see it. Also, she was an artificial being, a construct made of memories and made sentient by being stuffed into an artificial body of a Replica. From what she knew, a Nobody lacked a heart, so it's not hard to conclude that as an artificial being, a mere puppet, she also did not have a heart.

But, if that's the case, how could she feel sorrow? How could she feel sadness? A being without a heart shouldn't be able to feel such things. Being made of Sora's memories, she was able to recognize those feelings, but she wasn't sure if she was able to feel such things due to the existence of a heart inside her.

Perhaps there was no way of knowing that. And now that she was brought back to life, she did not have any idea what to do next but to walk aimlessly in this new, unfamiliar world.

After finishing both her ice creams, she got up and continued observing her surroundings. This time, she did not cover her head with her hood because she didn't want to run into trouble with the patrolling policemen in the area. At the very least, she knew that no one would find an ordinary young girl walking alone at the park suspicious, despite the fact that she was wearing a suspicious-looking black hooded coat.

While walking around, she had yet to stumble upon any threat like Heartless or Nobodies. She was unsure whether it was a good thing or a bad thing. Even so, she had to be prepared. She was still confused due to her revival, but she shouldn't let it cloud her mind. The things that she had learned back then came back to her. She cautiously observed her surroundings as she clenched and unclenched her right hand. With just one simple command, the Kingdom Key would appear in her hand to be used as a weapon to protect herself.

She walked aimlessly, having no direction in her mind, as she continued to observe everything around her. So far, nothing seemed suspicious for the young Replica, but then, she felt a slight jolt when she stepped into an area. She jerked her head and looked at one direction.

It was hard to explain it, but she felt like she had stepped into something that no one dared to step into. It felt like an invisible barrier that caused people to unconsciously step away from the area without them even realizing it. There was a forest nearby, and she could feel that the source of this invisible barrier came from the forest. Steeling herself, she walked into the forest to see what was ahead of her.

She grimaced as she walked forward. She smelled something unpleasant as she walked closer to the source of the barrier. Whatever this source might be, it had to be something inhuman and threatening like a Heartless. Now that there was no one around her, she summoned Kingdom Key into her hand. She felt the familiar weight of the Keyblade in her hand. She had no idea how she managed to summon the Keyblade, considering that she should have lost the ability to summon it the moment she was killed by Roxas due to her being absorbed into him, but she had no time to wonder about it.

As she walked, she could hear the sounds of battle in the forest. She quickened her pace and occasionally was bumping into a tree. Gritting her teeth, she ignored the pain of having her shoulder hitting trees and continued onward.

When she finally arrived, she was greeted by the scene of a vaguely-humanoid creature being bisected in two by a white-haired young man armed with a blade made of light. The creature screamed in pain before the young man brought a pistol to its head.

Bang!

She flinched. The bisected creature fell lifelessly onto the ground and the young man planted a boot on its head, crushing it under his sole. Then, the young man laughed as he continued grinding his foot on the crushed head, as if enjoying this very moment. Such a sight sickened her and she took a few steps back, unintentionally stepping on a twig.

Crack!

The sound of her stepping on a twig stopped the young man and he looked behind to see her. There was a blood splatter on his pale skin, and a face-splitting grin on his face. He removed his foot from the crushed head and turned around.

"Oh, look what we have here," the young man said in jovial tone. "A witness, huh? Well, that can't do." He brought up his pistol, priming it at her. "Sorry 'bout this, kiddo, but can't have you telling everyone about this." From his tone, she could tell that he wasn't even sorry in the slightest.

Seeing that she was put at a gunpoint, she immediately assumed a familiar stance, holding her Keyblade with both hands. She glared at the man, whose whole being radiated bloodlust. And the way he looked at her repulsed her even more.

Then, the young man raised an eyebrow. "Oh, you aren't a human, are you?" He said. "Hehe… well, this is my lucky day, isn't it?" He looked at the Keyblade she wielded and chuckled. "What kind of weapon is that? Some kind of giant key or something?" He then cocked his pistol. "Oh well, change of plans. I guess I have to kill you for real now. I dunno what you are, kiddo, but I guess I'm gonna have fun with your dead body after this," he said. The way he said that disgusted her.

And with that, the young man charged towards her, and she raised her Keyblade to prepare herself for his attacks. The young man was so fast, she could barely follow his movements. But, thanks to her experience dispatching Heartless, she was able to see his attacks, deflecting his slashes with Kingdom Key.

Seeing that she was able to deflect his attacks, the young man brought up his pistol and shot at her face. She barely avoided the shot, with a bullet grazing her cheek. Gritting her teeth, she mustered her strength and unleashed a series of slashes of her Keyblade onto the young man.

 _'Ars Arcanum!'_

The young man's eyes widened as he felt the intensity of her attacks, frantically blocked her attacks with his sword of light. And with one final strike, she managed to disarm him, with his grip on his sword weakening, and the sword was sent flying.

"Oh shit!" The young man cursed as he lost his melee weapon.

"I'm not finished yet!" She yelled as she followed up her series of attacks with a diagonal slash. The young man jumped away, and her slash managed to cut a tree cleanly. The young man jumped towards his sword and picked it up.

As for her, she panted heavily after cutting the tree with her Keyblade. She reassumed her stance and looked at the white-haired man warily.

"How did you cut the tree with that thing?" He asked, looking at the Keyblade in her hands. How could something so blunt could cut a tree cleanly like that? After seeing that she could do with that strange weapon of hers, the young man couldn't help but cackle, finding himself interested in such a weapon. "I'm gonna study that thing after I kill you!"

"I want to see you try," she said, brandishing her Keyblade as she rushed towards the young man. She tried to unleash Ars Arcanum again, but this time, the young man managed to read her movements and intercepted her before she could unleash the attack. "Wha?!"

The young man managed to catch her hands before she could attack him with Ars Arcanum, and due to him having greater height and strength of his upper body, she was quickly overwhelmed and was slammed against a tree.

"Gkh!"

"A word of advice: don't use the same technique twice on the same opponent," the young man said, grinning madly before he drove his knee onto her stomach. Then he quickly disarmed her, letting the Keyblade drop to the ground. "Well, that doesn't matter anymore, since you're gonna die anyway!"

The young man grabbed her by her neck and lifted her up. She tried to struggle, but due to him choking the life out of her, she was having a problem breathing. She flailed and struggled in her attempt to break free, but due to the young man's height, her attempt to break free was useless. She could feel her body weakening.

"Ngh… nggah…" She tried to say something but her words stuck in her throat. Her body was dangling, her feet not reaching the ground. All that came out of her mouth were wordless noises and gurgles.

"Welp, that was interesting, but I guess that's it," the young man said as he lifted his sword, aiming it at her chest, right on her heart. "It's time to kill ya, I guess." He grinned again, as if imagining what he would do to her dead body afterwards.

"Gkh…" Despite being in such a predicament, she still had enough strength in her to glare at the young man. When he was about to shove his sword of light into her chest, she summoned Kingdom Key back into her hand and swung it right on his face. And at that moment, the sword was pierced through her ribcage, and the blade protruded out of her back.

"Argh!" The young man screamed when his face was whacked by the giant key she summoned, and he immediately let her go, dropping her to the ground. His sword was still stuck between her ribs, and after she struggled to get back on her feet, she pulled the blade out of her and tossed it aside.

She brought her hand to her chest where she was stabbed. It hurt, even more so than the last time when Roxas killed her. Even so, she did not allow herself to collapse as she continued to stand on her feet. As for the young man, he brought his hands on his face, having a chunk of his face cut off thanks to her attack earlier. He howled in pain as blood trickled down from his wound.

"Y-you… you bitch! Y-you'll pay for this!" The young man roared.

She brought up her Keyblade as she glared at him defiantly. The stab on her chest had severely weakened her, but she could not afford to fall down, not in front of this man.

"Tch… y-you'll pay for this. I swear… I'm gonna make you beg for mercy…" The young man growled before he stepped back. "Urgh… t-this hurts…" And with that, he withdrew, running away from the area.

After the young man was gone, she finally allowed herself to fall on her knees. It was difficult for her to breathe and her chest hurt and was bleeding. Losing too much blood, she had trouble trying to stay awake. With difficulty, she moved herself to a tree and rested against it as she placed her hand on her wounded chest. Her right hand was still clutching on Kingdom Key, and the cold surface of its hilt somehow brought her comfort.

Seeing that she had lost too much blood due to the fight earlier, she could tell that she might die soon. She almost laughed at the absurdity of her situation. She was brought back to life only to die again shortly afterwards.

"Ah… I-I guess this is it, huh?" She muttered to herself. She had experienced death before, so she should be fine with it.

But, she was afraid. Now that she was brought back to life, she was afraid of dying. She trembled at the prospect of dying alone in the middle of a forest, with no one by her side. Last time when she died, she had Roxas by her side, but now, she had no one. She was truly alone this time.

"R-Roxas… Axel…" She mumbled, tears gathering in her eyes before they rolled down her cheeks. Her blue eyes were unfocused as she looked up. "I-I'm scared…"

Her grip on her Keyblade loosened before it dissipated into motes of light. She had no strength left to even mend the wound, letting her blood flow out unbidden, causing her to lose her blood much faster.

As she waited for the inevitable, she could hear footsteps. Perhaps it was the young man from before who wanted to claim her dead body as his plaything? Such a thought disgusted her, but she had no way to stop him if he were to do that to her.

"Poor thing…" She heard a voice. It wasn't the voice of the young man from before. Then, she could feel a pair of warm, delicate hands stroking her cheeks. "Whatever happened to you, you didn't deserve this…" Somehow, that voice sounded motherly and brought warmth into her.

Then, she could feel two gentle arms wrapping around her, as if comforting her.

"Are you scared of dying?" The voice asked.

She had no way to vocalize her answer, so she could only nod.

"I see…" The voice said. "I guess you want to live more." The hand from before gently stroked her hair. "Do you want to live?"

She nodded weakly.

"Ah… well then, you will live." She couldn't see clearly, so she had no idea who was speaking to her just now. "In exchange, you will belong to me. Got any problem with that?"

As long as she could live, she couldn't bring herself to care. Weakly, she shook her head.

"Good. Now, please stay still." She could feel something cold and hard being placed on her chest. "Oh, by the way… you got a name?"

She opened her mouth, trying to answer the question.

"X-Xi… X-Xion…"

"Very well, Xion. The moment you get up, you'll be as good as new. Now, please rest your head and go to sleep. I'll wake you up later."

Feeling some kind of warmth enveloping her whole being, Xion finally allowed herself to fall asleep, comforted by the fact that she would stay alive. The last thing she saw before she fully lost her consciousness was the face of a beautiful girl with long, red hair.

* * *

"Grkh… t-that bitch, she's gonna pay for this…" Freed Sellzen, a former exorcist who was excommunicated by the Church due to his violent tendency, slumped against a wall in an alley. Earlier, he fought a girl with a unique weapon shaped like a giant key. He almost got her, but that little minx managed to land a cheap shot right on his face, specifically on his jaw, tearing off a chunk of his flesh.

The left side of his face was badly damaged, with his cheek torn off, revealing his teeth inside. For something as blunt as that key, it sure was a dangerous and effective weapon in her hands. If he were in a better mood and better condition, he might have thought about taking that weapon for himself in order to study it. But, after what that little girl had done to him, he'd rather have her killed and have that giant key of hers used to pin her on a wall like pinning an insect. Well, of course he would violate her first, making sure to break her mind and body, reducing her into a babbling wreck. Such a thought made him momentarily forget about the pain from the wound he got.

"I swear… I'm gonna make her regret doing this to me…" Freed growled as he removed his hand from his wounded face and placed it on the wall, leaving a smear of blood on it.

"So, you desire revenge."

He stopped when he heard a voice from behind him. He turned around and bristled when he saw a man clad in a similar hooded coat that the girl he fought earlier wore. The hood was pulled up, covering the entirety of his face. The hooded man spoke with a deep, commanding voice. But Freed wasn't one to bow down to an authority figure as he sneered at him while brandishing his sword of light. Due to the wound on his cheek, his sneer looked hideous and grotesque.

"And why do you care?" Freed growled, pointing his sword of light at the hooded man. "Get lost!" Due to his pain and exhaustion, he didn't feel like fighting this man. He just wasn't in the right mood to do so, after all.

In a blink of an eye, the man disappeared and then reappeared behind Freed. The former exorcist was caught off guard by this, and before he could do anything, a pair of red ethereal blades were placed at both sides of his neck. They were positioned like scissors and the hooded man could easily cut off his head with just a slight jerk of his hands.

"Perhaps you are far more interested to discuss about your desire for revenge in a civilized manner instead of pointing our weapons at each other?" The man suggested coolly, still not moving his ethereal blades away from Freed's neck.

Freed gulped. He could tell that these blades were real deal. Make a wrong move, then he would have to say goodbye to his head. Being a sadistic murderer, he rarely decapitated his victims because he wanted to make them suffer before dying, but he knew that losing his head would mean instant death.

Seeing no other way to get himself out of this situation, Freed dropped his sword and raised his hands in surrender. "Fine, you win. I'd rather not lose my head anytime soon, y'know?"

"Good…" The hooded man removed the blades from his neck. "Now, let us talk."

* * *

Xion dreamed of the Clock Tower of Twilight Town, where she hung out with her friends, Roxas and Axel while having sea salt ice creams together. The three of them talked about various things, trivial things as they enjoyed their frozen treats while watching the sunset.

She felt happy as she dreamed of the Clock Tower. It reminded her of the simpler time when she did not know about her own true nature.

But then, like every dream, this dream had to end. Both Roxas and Axel got up and started walking away. The scenery around her changed into an empty corridor, and both her friends left her alone. She tried to chase after them, but they were unreachable. The more she tried to chase after them, the farther they went. When both of them vanished, the empty corridor crumbled, and Xion ended up falling into an endless void.

It's time for her to wake up.

"She's awake," she heard not too far from her as she regained her consciousness. Slowly, she opened her eyes and saw a white-haired girl staring right into her eyes. Both of them blinked when they looked into each other's eyes for a moment.

"Ah, is that so?" The voice from before spoke when Xion heard the sounds of footsteps approaching. Xion sat up and found herself on a sofa. She was still in her Organization coat. Then, she remembered her injury from earlier. Instinctively, she brought her hand to her chest only to find out that there was no pain at all. Her wound was completely healed. "About your injury, please don't worry about it." Xion looked at the speaker and saw a red-haired girl with an ample bosom, and Xion blinked again.

"Umm… what happened to me?" Xion asked.

"Well, it was a long story, but to make a long story short, I found you dying in the middle of a forest. In order to save you from death, I used one of my Evil Pieces," the red-haired girl explained. Seeing Xion's confused expression, she sighed and said, "Still, I don't expect you to understand right away, but I want you to know that you are no longer what you were."

She held out her hand at Xion.

"No matter what you were before, you are now reincarnated as a Devil," the girl said before a pair of leathery wings emerged from her back. "My name is Rias Gremory, and from now on, you are mine, Xion."

Xion continued to stare at the winged girl before her, blinking in confusion.

 **TO BE CONTINUED**

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Hello, this is me, Prince Arjuna. So, this is my new story, titled Tides, which is a crossover of High School DxD and Kingdom Hearts, or specifically Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days. Out of all characters of Kingdom Hearts, I adore Xion the most, and I hope that she can at least get a happy ending in the upcoming Kingdom Hearts 3. So, I hope you enjoy this first chapter of this fanfic, and please give me your comments, guys! Without reviews, I may not be able to motivate myself to write more chapters.

Also, special thanks to **Sorata Shioya** for beta-reading this chapter. You rock, buddy. It's good to work with you. Stay tuned for the next chapter, **Chapter 02: A Replica who Becomes a Devil.** Until then, farewell.

 **Prince Arjuna (2016)**


	2. A Replica Who Becomes A Devil

"Here you go, Miss Xion…"

Xion looked at the blonde boy who was serving her a cup of tea. He had a handsome face and a gentlemanly demeanor. Despite the fact that she was a Replica, or rather a clone of a boy, Sora, she still identified herself as a girl. Due to that reason, she found herself blushing upon being put under the boy's attention.

"T-thanks…" Xion stammered before she immediately turned to look at the cup of tea the boy just served. She could smell a pleasant fragrance from the cup of tea. Somehow, it calmed her down.

"I thought that the herbal tea might be good for you," the boy informed her. "Oh, where are my manners? My name is Yuuto Kiba. It's nice to meet you, Miss Xion," he introduced himself before he flashed Xion a smile.

"L-likewise," Xion replied before she took the cup of tea to have a sip. She was caught off-guard by how delicious the warm beverage was. "I-it's… it's tasty!" She exclaimed.

The boy, Kiba, just chuckled. "I'm glad you like it. It's a special blend from the Underworld. You could never find it anywhere else…"

"Underworld?" Xion blinked. "The place where Hades resides?" She inquired.

"Ah, no… that's a different thing altogether," Kiba said. "Well, that aside, I believe we should go straight to business, now that you have calmed down," he said before he looked at the red-haired girl who was sitting on a couch opposite the one Xion was sitting on. "She's all yours, _Buchou_ …"

"Buchou?" Xion gave both Kiba and the red-haired girl a confused look.

"Thank you, Yuuto…" The red-haired girl who introduced herself as Rias Gremory earlier said. Then, Rias directed her gaze on Xion and said, "So, do you understand about your current situation now, Xion? About the circumstances of your near-death experience and your resurrection as a Devil?"

Slowly, Xion nodded. Earlier, Rias and the others in the room explained to her about the new circumstances about her new state of being. Apparently, when she was dying earlier back at the forest, Rias, who was investigating the area where a Stray Devil was found dead, stumbled upon her. Seeing that she was dying, Rias offered her a chance to live in exchange of being put under her service as a Devil. Using one of her Evil Pieces, which was actually a Chess piece, Rias saved the dying Xion from death, and Xion was reincarnated into a Devil.

When Rias explained to Xion about her being a newly-reincarnated Devil, a pair of bat-like wings randomly popped out of her back. Confused, Xion checked the leathery pinions that suddenly emerged from her back before she started moving them.

"Well…" Xion began. "I… I actually didn't expect this sort of thing to happen. I mean…" She looked aside. "I just woke up, and…" She trailed off.

"Hmm… you woke up, you say?" Rias regarded her curiously. "Why don't you tell us about yourself? Where do you come from? What were you doing back at the forest?"

"I…" Xion hesitated. She's not prepared to tell Rias and the others about the circumstances of her being in this world. She was meant to vanish completely without a trace after being killed by her best friend, Roxas. She knew that she would need to tell Rias everything about herself eventually, but she was not prepared for that. So, she decided to hide the truth for the time being. "I don't know."

Technically, it's not even a lie. She did not know how she managed to materialize again after losing her physical self upon being killed. Still, she felt bad for hiding the truth from the one who had saved her.

"I see…" Rias mused. She seemed to be mulling over something, as if thinking whether Xion was telling her the truth or hiding the truth from her. Either way, she didn't seem to comment about it any further. "Well, that being said, you are now under my care, Xion. Feel free to ask me anything, okay?" She gave the newly-revived Replica a motherly smile. Somehow, Xion felt relieved upon seeing the smile.

The smile reminded her of the pleasant things that she had prior to her death. Sea salt ice creams, the Twilight clock tower, the sunset, two of her friends.

"That reminds me…" Rias added. "Now that you are one of my minions," Xion raised an eyebrow when Rias called her 'her minion' "you will need to be enrolled into Kuoh High School…" Then, she gestured at the others. One of them was a petite, white-haired girl who Xion assumed was around the same age as her, and a beautiful girl with long, black hair. Just like Rias, Xion noticed that this girl also had a rather sizable bust, which Xion noticed was bigger than Rias'. "They will be showing you the ropes while you're at it."

"Are you going to give her a new name?" Kiba asked, curious.

"Ah, well… about that," Rias looked at Xion. "So, do you have any particular attachment to your name?" She asked.

Xion thought about it for a moment before she answered, "I'm not sure." Like all the members of the Organization, her name is an anagram of her name prior to her being inducted as its member, with a letter 'x' being added in her name. Her real name was 'no.i', an imaginary number. And if she were to answer that question, she didn't particularly hate that name.

"I think I like the sound of her name," the black-haired girl who was with them said. "And her name sounds like 'Shion', right?"

"Hmm… well, that'll probably work," Rias said. "Okay, Xion… we'll get you enrolled into Kuoh High School, but we need to go through several procedures first. But don't worry about it," she smiled at the younger girl. "It'll be dealt with in no time, believe me. Now, you need some place to live in, so…" She looked at the white-haired girl with petite body, who was currently eating a cake. "Koneko, will it be alright if Xion becomes your roommate?"

The white-haired girl, Koneko, stopped nibbling her cake as she looked at Xion. Both the girls, who seemed to have similar body type, stared into each other's eyes for a moment. Then, Koneko nodded before she continued eating her cake.

Xion blinked, unsure what to think of this particular girl.

"Good!" Rias said. "But first, I need to bring you back to my house. We need to give you everything you need as a student, after all. We'll get you enrolled as soon as possible, so don't worry about a wrong size for your school uniform!"

Xion was unsure of what to say when Rias beckoned her to the corner of the room they were currently in. There was some kind of sigil which was red in color on the floor. She could feel magic energy from the sigil.

"As for the rest of you…" Rias looked at the others. "Yuuto, go and inform Sona about Xion's enrollment, and make sure to tell her to immediately contact me as soon as possible. Koneko, go prepare your room and make sure you get an extra bed for Xion. Akeno, come with me. We need to talk while we're at it."

The others gave Rias a chorus of responses. Satisfied, Rias looked at Xion.

"Don't worry, Xion," Rias gave her a reassuring smile. "No matter what happened to you before, I'll make sure that you will start over together with us. Now that you are mine, it is my responsibility to take care of you." She ruffled Xion's black hair. "I understand if you still don't feel like telling us everything about you, but believe me that I really want to help you."

"I…" Xion stared at Rias' face. "I understand," she said in meek tone. "Once I'm ready, I'll tell you everything."

"Good," Rias nodded, satisfied by Xion's answer.

* * *

 **Tides**

 **High School DxD and Kingdom Hearts Crossover**

 **Chapter 02: A Replica Who Becomes a Devil**

The process of getting herself prepared to be enrolled into Kuoh High School was surprisingly going smooth without a hitch. In just a short amount of time, Xion got everything she needed as a student of the high school. Thanks to Rias providing the funds, Xion got a lot of new clothes for herself; a few pairs of school uniforms, a handful of casual clothes, sleepwear, extra clothes and undergarments.

For some reasons, Xion seemed to prefer casual clothes with zippers on them. Lots and lots of zippers, in fact. Rias was curious by her preference, but made no comment about it.

After the preparation was completed, Xion followed Koneko to where she lived, with Kiba helping her out by carrying all the new items that she got. After three of them left, only Rias and the black-haired girl whom Rias called Akeno remained in the room.

"Well, that's another thing solved…" Rias sighed before she plopped herself on the couch. "Seriously, that girl has a rather unhealthy obsession with zippers. Still, it's not my place to judge her taste, of course," she shrugged.

"Speaking of unhealthy obsession, we may as well talk about yours, Rias," Akeno said.

"Huh? What do you mean, Akeno?" Rias asked, quirking her eyebrow.

"You've been making it a habit to pick up stray puppies again, you know that?" Akeno said as she looked at Rias. "It's just like that one time when you found Kiba."

"Are you suggesting I should've left her to die?" Rias asked coldly as she looked at her friend.

"Of course not," Akeno replied, waving her hand. "It's just that you're adding another member into your peerage without actually thinking of what she can contribute to your peerage. Of course, saving someone from death is not a wrong thing, so maybe I'm just being a devil's advocate here," then, she giggled as she realized that she just made a pun.

Rias sighed. She had been friends with Akeno for a long time, and she considered her insights and opinions to be valuable. Still, she knew that Akeno was questioning her reasoning behind her using one of her Evil Pieces to reincarnate Xion into a Devil. As far as they knew, it was unknown whether Xion could contribute to her peerage or not. They didn't even know Xion's true combat capability. Well, she was found in a site where a Stray Devil was murdered, and she had a stab wound on her chest when Rias found her, but all those didn't add much.

"Well, others may think that what I did was waste one of my Evil Pieces, but I didn't want to leave her to die," Rias admitted. "And… while we're not sure of her combat capability yet, I can tell that she's definitely not a normal human. Of course, that wasn't what I had in my mind when I resurrected her with a Knight piece, but just like Yuuto, I'm sure she'll turn out just fine."

"We'll see about it, then…" Akeno said. "Changing the subject, there's something interesting that I found in Xion's pocket when we asked her to remove her coat so she could try some new clothes on." She took out some greenish-yellow diamond-shaped gems from her pocket and handed them to Rias. "For some reason, I almost thought they are money." Then, she added, "Oh, I asked her if it's alright for me to keep them, by the way."

"Hmm…" Rias studied the gems. "Ah, I remember seeing these in my brother's room some time ago. These things are called 'munny', the universal currency."

"Munny? What an odd name for a currency," Akeno commented. "And what do you mean by 'universal currency'?"

"For your information, munny can be used as a currency at any part of the world. There's no need to convert your money if you have munny in your possession," Rias explained. "Plus, they can also be used in the Underworld."

"Still, why does she have them? Xion, I mean…" Akeno wondered as she studied the munny that Rias held in her hand.

"Hmm… that may suggest that she's not from Japan," Rias said. "While the shops here accept munny as payment, they are not widely used, In fact, these things will be considered worthless if you were to convert them into yen."

"So, where do we find this munny commonly used?" Akeno asked.

"I'm not sure, but maybe my brother knows," Rias answered.

"Huh…" Akeno took back the munny from Rias and studied them. "Well, perhaps these things can be the clues for the origin of your newest minion, Rias. I don't think a normal girl can get a hold on these things."

"Perhaps you're right…" Rias said as she brushed her red hair off her forehead. "Still, there has to be a reason why Xion didn't want to tell us about herself. I can understand that…" She sighed. "Even Yuuto refused to elaborate what had happened to him before I found him dying in the snow at that time. All we can do now is to make her feel welcome in our group and give her a chance to begin anew. Whatever her past is, it's already been left behind…"

Akeno smiled. "Here you go again, planning to pamper and spoil your subordinates…"

Rias just shrugged. "Hey, I'm free to spoil my minions whenever I want. Plus, Xion is cute. Who doesn't want to spoil someone that cute?"

* * *

"Alright, here goes…" Kiba said as he put down all of Xion's belongings on the floor when the three of them finally arrived at Koneko's place. Both Xion and Koneko would be sharing a room for the time being, and the white-haired girl had already prepared an extra bed for Xion.

Xion noted that the room was much bigger than the one that she had back at the Castle That Never Was. While Koneko's room was sparsely decorated, it was much better than Xion's old room. She also saw a few colorful pillows on the beds, each of them shaped like a cat's head.

Speaking of cat heads, Koneko also had a hairpin which was shaped like one. Xion was unsure of its significance. Perhaps it was nothing.

"Well, I'll be leaving now," Kiba said as he prepared to leave. "You two better get to know each other in the meantime," he smiled at both Xion and Koneko. "In case if you need my help, feel free to call me, alright?"

"Got it," Xion said.

"Understood," Koneko told the blonde boy.

"Good," Kiba nodded. "See you tomorrow, Xion."

After Kiba left, Xion just stood there, unsure of what to do. Koneko went to the fridge to take out rice cakes before she took a seat on her bed. She took one of the rice cake before she said to Xion, "Want some?"

Xion stared at Koneko for a while before she answered, "Gladly."

Sitting next to each other, both Koneko and Xion were enjoying their snacks together. While both of them didn't say much, it seemed that both of them were alright with each other's presence.

Back then when she was still a member of Organization XIII, Xion wouldn't call herself the most talkative member of the group, but she was sociable enough that she managed to befriend Roxas and Axel. But now that she was with Koneko who didn't say much, she didn't know what to say.

While thinking of her own past, Xion almost didn't notice that Koneko was staring at her intently. She had stopped nibbling her own rice cake as she looked at the one that Xion was eating. Blinking, Xion asked, "W-what is it?"

"How does it taste?" Koneko asked, referring to the rice cake Xion was eating.

"Umm…" Xion took several seconds to process the question before she answered, "It's… it's delicious."

Upon hearing Xion's answer, Koneko's lips curled up into a small smile. "Good." And so, she continued eating her rice cake.

Xion stared at the white-haired girl beside her, blinking a few times before she focused on eating her own rice cake. Perhaps that's Koneko's way to break the ice? Xion was uncertain whether that was the case or not.

In the end, both Xion and Koneko spent most of the day exchanging a few words and eating snacks together. All in all, Xion didn't mind it at all because delicious snacks were involved. If there was one thing that both girls seemed to share, it was their love for delicious foods and snacks. And Xion loved snacks as much as she loved sea salt ice creams. She might as well introduce Koneko to sea salt ice creams when she had her chance.

* * *

The gigantic white castle which was the stronghold of Organization XIII, the Castle That Never Was, was a megastructure which defied all sorts of logic. It was a floating castle that floated above the Dark City in the World That Never Was. In the sky, a heart-shaped moon loomed over everything in the world where Heartless and Nobodies gathered.

Of course, the moon was in fact Kingdom Hearts, or rather, the fake version of it. It was an accumulation of thousands of hearts. The hearts came from the Heartless, the hearts that were lost to the darkness. Only a special weapon known as a Keyblade could release those hearts, and the released hearts would weave together to become Kingdom Hearts.

But, after the defection of the Organization member Number XIII, Roxas, the process of collecting hearts had stopped. It was due to the fact that Roxas was the only member of the Organization who could wield a Keyblade, and without him, hearts couldn't be collected, and the Kingdom Hearts couldn't be completed.

It had been three days since his defection, and Organization XIII was in a great conundrum. Without the Keyblade-wielder to collect the hearts needed to complete the Kingdom Hearts, their goal couldn't be realized. As all the members of the Organization consisted of Nobodies, the beings whose hearts were lost to the darkness, the fake Kingdom Hearts was created so that all the members of the Organization could regain their hearts, becoming while and complete again. But, without Roxas, their goal in achieving completeness could not be reached.

The remaining members of the Organization were in the Round Room, also known as Where Nothing Gathers, discussing about what to do with their rogue member.

"You continue to be a disappointment, Number VIII," a dreadlocked man with a muscular stature clad in the standard black cloak of the Organization, groused as he addressed another member of the Organization, particularly the one with spiky red hair. All of the remaining members, excluding their Superior, were in the throne room, and all eyes were set on the Organization member Number VIII, The Flurry of Dancing Flames, Axel.

Axel rolled his eyes as he heard the dreadlocked man's rebuke. "Hey, you can't exactly blame me for failing to track him down, alright? That kid disappeared into thin air just like that." He shrugged. "Even by sending Dusks and my Assassins around, it'll take some time to find some clues of his whereabouts…"

The dreadlocked man huffed as he crossed his arms over his broad chest. "Hmph… I expected you to be more competent in doing this mission, considering your track records, but now, you have nothing good or substantial to report." He held out his right hand. "Hence the disappointment…"

"Now, now… don't be like that, Xaldin," a laid-back man with an eye-patch covering one of his eyes said casually, addressing the dreadlocked Nobody whom he called Xaldin. "As far as we all know, the kiddo's Flamesilocks' best bud. Of course he's gonna have some reservations about finding and turning him in," he grinned at Axel. "I mean, he couldn't get his heart into the job, right? Getting sentimental and stuff like that."

A certain Nobody with blue hair scoffed as he focused his yellow eyes on the eye-patched Nobody. "Don't be ridiculous, Xigbar. Axel, like the rest of us, does not have a heart." Then, he dismissively waved his hand and said, "The most pressing matter is that without a Keyblade-wielder, the task of collecting hearts has been halted, which in turn stop our progress in completing Kingdom Hearts. So…" He shifted his focus on Axel. "It is prudent for you to find the missing Number XIII as soon as possible."

Axel sighed. "Yeah, yeah… you've been telling me that many times already, Saïx. That's the sixth time you mentioned that to me," he grumbled. "Fine, I'll double the effort. You happy now?" He asked, disregarding the fact that no one in the room was capable of feeling happy due to the aforementioned lack of hearts.

"You better double your effort, Number VIII, or else I may have to personally get involved in this matter," Xaldin said, shifting his position while sitting on his throne. "And there's only one thing I will do to those who betray Organization XIII," he brought up his gloved hand and clenched it into a fist. "Key of Destiny or not, Number XIII will be personally annihilated by my own hands…"

Axel's expression hardened when he heard that from the Number III of the Organization. He knew that the spear-wielding Nobody was a resolute person and a man of his word. He meant every word he said.

Meanwhile, Saïx gave Xaldin a disapproving look. "I care not what you are planning to do to Number XIII afterwards, but we still require his power to collect more hearts to complete Kingdom Hearts."

Xaldin harrumphed and said, "Very well. I shall leave him functional enough to use his Keyblade in case if I were to capture him, but…" His eyes glinted dangerously. "Once his task is over, I will kill him. A traitor like him has no right to earn anything that the completed Kingdom Hearts has to offer to us…" He looked at the rest of the members of the Organization. "Anyone has any objection to that?"

"A pity…" A goateed Nobody who was tossing a pair of dice on his palm said. "I have to admit that young Roxas is a very enjoyable fellow to have around. He somehow reminds me of the time when I was young and complete." He caught the dice into his fist as he opened his eyes, revealing his electric-blue pupils. "Still, I have nothing to object. After all, who am I to argue for the result of the cast dice? Roxas simply dealt himself a very bad hand…"

"Well, if you ask me, I think I'm gonna miss him if that's gonna happen," a lazy-looking Nobody said while tuning his sitar. "But, yeah… nothing to argue here." He looked at Xaldin. "You're the one calling the shots after Superior and Saïx," he smiled blandly. "It's not like anyone's gonna listen to me anyway."

Xaldin nodded. "Both Number X and Number IX already made their opinions known…" He looked at Axel. "What about you, Number VIII? Do you have any objection in my own decision?"

Axel just remained silent. Before the dreadlocked Nobody could comment any further, dark aura began to form on the throne of their Superior before Number I, Xemnas, came into being.

"Oh, Lord Xemnas, didn't expect you to actually show up," Xigbar said, raising his hand in greeting.

"Welcome back, Lord Xemnas," Saïx said. "We were wondering where you had been." He looked at the leader of the Organization, Superior of In-Between.

"There were some businesses I had to attend to…" Xemnas said in a deep voice, booming with authority. "And those businesses are something that I would like to bring up today in this meeting." He put his arms on the armrests of his thrones as he paused dramatically. "As you all know, there are countless worlds out there, with the majority of their inhabitants unaware of the existence of the other worlds."

Xemnas paused again, and the members of the Organization focused themselves on their leader. They all knew of their Superior's knack of dramatics.

"When I was traveling the worlds on a whim, I found myself in a world that is deeply connected to two other worlds, and these worlds are under the domain of a higher being…" Xemnas said. "Or more precisely used to be under the domain of a higher being."

"Three separate worlds being deeply connected?" Xigbar mused. "Do you mean the inhabitants of each of the worlds are aware of the existence of the other two worlds?" He asked. It was unexpected for someone like Xigbar to be the first one to ask that question. But, it still made sense, considering that despite his roguish appearance, he was still the Nobody of Braig, one of six apprentices of Ansem the Wise.

The Nobody of another apprentice of Ansem the Wise, Xaldin, also gave Xemnas an inquiring look. Just like Xigbar, he was also curious of what Xemnas was trying to tell them.

"Not entirely, no…" Xemnas said. "Also, those worlds are also protected against the Heartless thanks to the efforts of the higher beings there. As a result, Heartless never got their chance to set their feet on those worlds." He shifted his position before he continued. "And… there is also another matter."

He paused again. Thanks to that, even the laziest member, Number IX, Demyx, was also paying attention.

"Due to the effort of one of the higher beings in those worlds, Number XIV was revived…" Xemnas said.

"Number XIV?" Axel blinked. He was about to comment that there's no member of the Organization designated with such number before he flinched. "X-Xion?"

"W-what do you mean, Lord Xemnas?" Demyx asked. "I thought we only have thirteen memb- waaaait a minute," just like Axel, whatever fog that had been obscuring his memories had been lifted. The rest was also the same for the other Organization members, leaving them confused.

"So… Poppet's somehow alive, huh?" Xigbar was the first one to recover from the confusion. "Now that's unexpected. Like, totally unexpected."

"For what purpose anyone would like to get by resurrecting… that thing?" Saïx sounded bitter when he said that.

"Whatever the reason, it is now a fact that the Replica has returned to being," Xemnas said. "And… due to the fact that it is still the Replica of the Keyblade-master, it is possible that it is still capable of wielding a Keyblade."

The one with goatee, Organization member Number X, Luxord, seemed to catch on. "Ah, so you decide to bet on her instead?" He pulled out a playing card from his sleeve. "For a wild card to suddenly appear, what else to do but to make use of it?"

"Still, it is uncertain whether Number XIV is still capable of wielding a Keyblade or not…" Xigbar expressed his concern, or whatever equivalent of concern for a Nobody, considering that a being without a heart was incapable of feeling concern in the first place.

"I had no chance to ascertain that fact, considering that I was preoccupied with my own personal matter at those worlds…" Xemnas stated. Then, he shifted his golden eyes on a certain red-haired Nobody, who had been silent the whole time. "Axel, suspend your mission in tracking down the missing Number XIII for the time being. You will go to one of those worlds in order to investigate the matter and discern whether the Replica is still capable of wielding a Keyblade or not."

"Huh," Xigbar looked at the leader of the Organization. "So, we're giving up on the kiddo already?" He shrugged. "Well, kinda understandable, since Poppet's meant to be a replacement anyway…"

Xemnas shook his head. "No. I will relegate this mission to someone else." He looked at one particular blue-haired Nobody. "Saïx, I shall leave it to you to decide which one to replace Axel in tracking down our wayward member."

Saïx bowed respectfully. "Your will be done, Lord Xemnas."

As for Axel, he remained silent. Xemnas looked at him again, one eyebrow raised.

"Do you have any reservations about this new mission of yours as well?" Xemnas asked.

The red-haired Nobody closed his eyes before he reopened them. Then, his whole body was engulfed in dark aura.

"I'll do it, Lord Xemnas…"

And he disappeared.

* * *

As a Replica being put under the guise of a Nobody, Xion never got to experience what attending school actually felt like. On her first day at Kuoh High School, she was overwhelmed by almost everything right after she introduced herself to her classmates. Almost everyone came to her and asked her a myriad of questions like where she lived and what her favorite food was. She was lucky that Koneko, who was also in the same class, bailed her out before things got out of control.

In public, Xion was known as Shion Tetsuma. Rias was the one who gave her that name, and the red-haired Devil seemed proud of the fact that she came up with that name.

Despite being overwhelmed by all those new things, Xion found herself enjoying them all. It was a new experience to her, and she was eager to learn more of this new life of hers. It also helped that everyone who was with Rias was willing to lend her a hand.

If there was one thing she'd like to complain, it would be the length of the skirt of her school uniform, which was unbelievably short. She never wore anything except the black coat of the Organization.

When the school was over, Xion, together with Koneko, went to the clubhouse where the others were waiting for them. Rias in particular didn't stop gushing over her cuteness.

Speaking of cuteness, Xion somehow became an instant idol at school the moment she showed up at school. It was due to the fact that she came to school together with Koneko, who herself was well-known among the school body, and added with her cute looks, she became one half of the now famous Black and White duo, with the other half being Koneko. Xion was unsure what to think of this turn of events.

"So, doing fine so far?" Rias asked Xion.

"W-well… everything's new to me, and there are a lot of things for me to take in," Xion said, scratching her cheek as she glanced at Koneko, who was enjoying some foods while sitting next to the blonde boy, Kiba, on the sofa. "But thanks to Koneko, I think I can manage somehow," she smiles at the red-haired girl.

Rias chuckled. "That's good to hear. Now, why don't we talk? Now that you're a Devil, we may as well explain to you what we always do."

So, Rias explained to her about contracts. Devils in general need humans to sign contracts with them in order to increase their powers and standings in the Underworld, the native world of the Devils. In order to get the humans to sign the contracts, the Devils need to first fulfill their ends of their bargains. These tasks range from something incredibly menial to ridiculously insane.

When Xion was about to ask something, Rias quickly added that the contracts did not require the souls of the contractors, and the former Replica sighed in relief.

Rias also explained to Xion about Stray Devils, or the Devils who diverted away from their Masters. Xion remembered Rias telling her that she stumbled upon her while investigating something about a Stray Devil around the area.

A Stray Devil without their Master could not keep their powers in check, which often resulted in them becoming a great threat if their power went beyond their control. Every Stray Devil needed to be killed on the spot due to their unstable nature. And for that reason, Rias and her peerage would sometimes be tasked in eliminating any Stray Devil in the area.

"While we're at it, we may as well learn of your combat capability, Xion-chan," Akeno said as she came over to Xion's side. Xion blinked, unsure of what the additional suffix added after her name was about. "Can you fight?"

Xion nodded. "I guess I can use magic and a little bit of swordsmanship." Back then when she was still a member of Organization XIII, she had trained on how to use magic and wield her Keyblade in order to make her an efficient fighter who could harvest hearts from the Heartless.

"Swordsmanship, huh?" Kiba mused. "We're the same, then. I can use swords too," he said as he smiled at Xion.

"Hmm… you claim to be a sword-wielder, but I didn't find any kind of sword on your person, unless if your sword is a Sacred Gear or something that you can summon at will," Rias said.

"Sacred Gear?" Xion gave Rias a questioning look. "What's that?"

"Well… let's just say it's some kind of weapon, but let's put that question aside for the time being. Can you show us your sword?" Rias asked.

Xion thought about it for a moment before she nodded. "Alright. Well… I don't think it's right to call it a sword, but," she smiled apologetically as she held out her right hand. "Here goes…" She closed her eyes, picturing the image of her Keyblade in her head. Her hand glowed and something began to materialize before the Kingdom Key came into existence. The sound of its keychain dangling was heard once it showed up.

"This… is your sword?" Rias asked, blinking as she looked at the newly-manifested giant key in Xion's hand.

"Doesn't look like a sword to me," Kiba commented.

"Well, like I said, it's not really right to call it a sword," Xion said, feeling a little embarrassed when everyone was looking at her Keyblade. "But I use it to fight and wield it like a sword. This is a Keyblade."

"Fascinating," Akeno mused as she poked the Keyblade with her finger. "I can feel something special about this thing. If I didn't know any better, I might have thought this to be a Sacred Gear."

Even Koneko was curious as she looked at the Keyblade. She even stopped eating as she studied the giant key with interest.

Then, Rias suggested, "If that's the case, why don't we test it out? Xion, I want to see how you wield this Keyblade," she then got up and put her hand on her waist. "Let's see how good you are with it, Xion."

 **TO BE CONTINUED**

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Hello, this is me, Prince Arjuna. This is the first update of the year. I'm sorry for the late update because I was busy with my day job. Well, I'll be updating my stories from time to time, including this one. While we're at it, I'm waiting with anticipation for the release of Kingdom Hearts 2.8 this month. And I really hope that Kingdom Hearts 3 is released this year (seems unlikely, but a fan can dream, right?).

Also, special thanks for **Sorata Shioya** for beta-reading this chapter, like always. You're cool, buddy.

So, I hope you guys enjoy this story, and please leave your reviews. Without reviews, I won't be able to motivate myself to write more chapters of my stories, which is bad. Also, while it's already late, I wish you a Happy New Year! Stay tuned for the next chapter, **Chapter 03: A Keybearer Named Xion.**

 **Prince Arjuna (2017)**


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